[quote]Originally posted by applenut:
<strong>member ratings are dumb and not appropriate for appleinsider. we all know each other here. why should we have to "rate" each other". personally, I don't understand why any forum would use it.</strong><hr></blockquote>

Because of the general negative post and your use of the word dumb I give you a rating of one BigMac out of five. But on the other hand you at least didn´t use the so I also give you two Apple Pies and a Whopper Junior. Feel free to display them if you want.

"I reject your reality and substitute it with my own" - President Bush

You know honestly, I probably would share the same views on ratings as you do, but I started the thread to ask the ADMINS about their reasoning behind disabling them. Especially since individual users can disable them if they so choose.

I agree with applenut. There's no reason for them here. I think this is the most community like Mac forum around and for the most part we know each other and know each other's personalitys and things like that well.

Amazingly enough, sometimes I ask a questions just for CURIOSITY'S SAKE. I saw the disabled member ratings thing in the my profile settings page, and looked into it at the FAQ to see if there was some obvious thing written there explaining why they're disabled on AI. When I didn't find anything there, I created this thread.

Understand something about me: If something has a potential feature, but it's disabled, I have to wonder why. That's just how my brain works.

[quote]Originally posted by CosmoNut:
<strong>Amazingly enough, sometimes I ask a questions just for CURIOSITY'S SAKE.</strong><hr></blockquote>

Funny, you still haven't gotten an answer...
I'm pretty curious as well...
Why arn't they being used?
I don't see anything wrong with them. And if you got a negative rating that you feel isn't justified, you could just turn them off for you. Not a big deal I would say. But I dono, it is not my call...

I think it is the view of the administration as a whole that these things are pretty useless and/or basically dumb. What does one rate another member on? Mark hit the nail on the head- More trouble than it's worth. You should be judged by the quality of your posts, not the number of them or the arbitrary opinions of your peers.

So, in short, Member Ratings are {off} and shall remain that way until a significant majority of the AI community deems that they are necessary.

Just as a guide- we basically wanted to keep the feel of the boards equal to those of old-times... things like avatars, image signatures, member ratings- they all detract from the post content, which is what is truly paramount here.

[quote]Originally posted by Jonathan:
<strong>Just as a guide- we basically wanted to keep the feel of the boards equal to those of old-times... things like avatars, image signatures, member ratings- they all detract from the post content, which is what is truly paramount here.</strong><hr></blockquote>

Also, MacNN's UBB had this for a few weeks, but it was just totally useless and misleading for all new members. The admins all had like 5 stars, everyone who posted a lot and 5 stars, stuff like that.

Better for someone to think themselves before reading my post "Oh, that's gorgonzola, he's an idiot" and move on, rather than move on because someone gave a bad rating because they were pissed off or something.

In short, I disabled them because they can't be beneficial, but they can be detrimental. Useless feature.

"If I were a younger man, I would write a history of human stupidity; and I would climb to the top of Mount McCabe and lie down on my back with my history for a pillow; and I would take from the...